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Origin and history

The church Our Lady of Redon-Espic was originally integrated into a Benedictine priory founded in the 12th century, as confirmed by the archaeological excavations of 2006. Its architecture, marked by an enlightened bedside of a triplet, gave rise to hypotheses about a possible Grandmontan origin or a foundation by nuns. Although the archives are missing precisely to date its creation, later documents, such as those of the bishopric of Sarlat in 1327, attest to its attachment to this institution after the establishment of the bishopric. The priory, mentioned as ruined in 1722, escaped revolutionary sales and became communal property in the 19th century, even serving as a sheepfold before being restored in 2007 and 2017.

The history of the priory remains partly enigmatic: no trace confirms the foundation by Marie de Beynac, a religious in Fontevrault, although sources of the sixteenth century evoked. The first bishop of Sarlat, Raymond d'Apremont de Roquecorne, united the priory with the office of claustral prior of his cathedral, marking his lasting integration with local ecclesiastical structures. The archives also reveal its gradual decline: in 1814, the site belongs to the Chabanne family, and the church, a communal property, is used as a storage place. Ranked a historic monument in 1999, it now illustrates the medieval and Benedictine heritage of the Périgord.

On the architectural level, the church is distinguished by its unique nave and its lauze cover, characteristics unchanged since the 12th century. The triplet of the bedside, rare in the region, reinforces the hypothesis of a grandmontan influence, known for its sober and luminous buildings. Recent restorations have preserved this testimony of perigordin Romanesque art, while revealing remains of the original priory, now protected. Its geographical isolation, on a rural road leading to the D25, has undoubtedly contributed to its relative conservation, despite centuries of abandonment.

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